(Newser)
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Sometimes, public apologies hit on frivolous topics, and sometimes, like this week, it's just the opposite:

Times have changed: "I take personal ownership of this inflammatory rhetoric. ... I apologize for the reflection those remarks bring upon Jesus Christ, Whom I love; Bob Jones University, which I have loved and served; and my own personal testimony.”—Bob Jones III, former school president, apologizing for a 1980 statement in which he called for the stoning of gays. A new petition prompted the apology.

Election time: "I know the things I said a few days ago hurt some of Israel's citizens and hurt Israel's Arabs. I had no intention to do that. I apologize for it."—Benjamin Netanyahu, for an election-eve warning that Arabs were voting "in droves."

Frat chant: "Let me start by saying that I am sorry, deeply sorry. I am so sorry for the pain I have caused, and I want all of you to know that directly from me. ... There are no excuses for my behavior."—Levi Pettit, one of two Oklahoma students expelled over a racist chant.

On further review: "A mother's job is not easy and neither is a police officer's. Sometimes as humans we overreact without gathering all of the facts. As a mother in this case I overreacted and for that I apologize. Thank you to that officer for being kind to my son."—Empire actress Taraji P. Henson, after initially accusing police who stopped her son's car of racial profiling.

Suffering vets: “To me, the scandal is that we had protocols in place and the medical community knew what they were, and yet we failed in some cases to implement this across the theater. That was a mistake, and I apologize for that. I apologize for past actions and am going to fix it going forward.”—Brad R. Carson, under secretary of the Army, over the treatment (or lack thereof) of vets exposed to chemical agents.